BMag-2012 - University of Birmingham

Breast cancer
Around 48,000 new cases of breast cancer are diagnosed in
the UK each year and the disease costs around 11,000 lives.
We are developing new approaches addressing which
women are most at risk and how to diagnose and treat them.
High risk, high return research
Dr Jo Morris, Senior Lecturer in the School
of Cancer Sciences, is working on a new
way to diagnose breast cancer.
‘Patients with changes in a gene called BRCA1
are at very high risk of developing breast
cancer, in fact there’s an 80% chance they
will do so before they turn 70. We need to
understand how this mutation causes cancer
and how to diagnose and treat it quickly.
‘Funding at the moment is extremely difficult
and most of it goes to traditional research
projects. Our work is high risk but high return
and, if it succeeds, will revolutionise breast
cancer treatment. Personally I think this is the
future of genetic research. In the past
we’ve discovered the gene and got stuck
about what to do next. This approach
solves this problem.
‘We have one year’s worth of funding and
we hope we will get to a point within that
year where we can take it to a funding body
and say look, this works. If our supporters
could collectively give £250,000, enough
money to fund a post doctoral scientist for
three years, we could do a lot more.
‘I’ve worked in cancer research my
entire career. It’s amazing to get up in the
morning and know you’re doing something
that matters.’
New University Sports Centre
The University is planning a £55 million new
sports centre, including the city’s first 50-metre
swimming pool, to serve everyone from students
and staff to talented athletes and members of the
local community.
State of the art: An artist’s impression of the new sports centre
A sporting chance
Alumnus Pete Rudge (BSc Pure Science, 1964) has been a regular user
of the University gym for more than 25 years. Exercising at the Munrow
helped his rehabilitation from a serious knee injury sustained in a car
accident. He is looking forward to the new sports centre opening...
‘The new sports centre will be a state-of-the-art facility. It is certainly
needed and will be a real benefit to the athletes and the community
who use it, and an asset to the University itself.
A new approach: Dr Jo Morris
The Birmingham Magazine 19
Help Jo make her research breakthrough.
Text CIRC05 plus the amount you wish to
give to 70070. If you would like to discuss
supporting our breast cancer research,
please contact Sally Xerri-Brooks on
+44 (0)121 414 7407 or
s.b.xerribrooks@bham.ac.uk
‘The new sports centre will help athletes like
me have the optimum chance of success and,
equally as importantly, will ensure the entire
University and its surrounding community
have access to the very best facilities to
participate in all types of sport and exercise,’
Hannah England (BSc Biosciences, 2009),
London 2012 Olympian, 1,500 metres.
‘Over the years I have had many
happy and beneficial sessions
in the gym and met lots of
interesting people (students,
staff, community members
and some more casual
users), many of whom have
become friends. My fitness
and general health have
been kept at a reasonable
Working out: Pete Rudge in the Munrow Sports
Centre gym
level and I’ve had a very
good time. I’m certain that
the new facilities will enable today’s and
tomorrow’s students and community users to
have similar experiences to mine. I certainly hope so!’
Text CIRC04 plus the amount you wish to give to 70070 to help people like Hannah and Pete access the very best sporting facilities. If you
would like to discuss supporting our new sports centre, please contact Christian Burden on +44 (0)121 414 8204 or c.j.burden@bham.ac.uk